Ocean City officials have denied a request to allow canning operations at the resort's newest brewery and pub.

Brewery owner Joshua Shores asked the town for conditions to which both parties already had agreed — namely, no grain silo outside and no canning operations at the 56th Street establishment — to be reversed.

But the Ocean City council rejected the request from newly opened Ocean City Brewing Co. to can its own beer on-site, as well as to install a 31-foot grain silo just outside the building. Now Shores will look into canning operations elsewhere, and the silo has to go inside the 17,400-square-foot facility, a former hardware store and lumberyard.

The resort's Planning and Zoning Commission had already given the green light to the brewery's request, paving the way for a vote at the council level. Commission members approved the outdoor grain silo for bulk grain storage because it would cut down on truck traffic from deliveries of bagged grain and on the dust that any bagged grain may create, according to Ocean City Zoning Administrator Blaine Smith.

Councilwoman Margaret Pillas has been a staunch opponent of the grain silo, citing concerns of residents who live at the adjacent Maresol condominium building.

"If it's a nuisance to the neighborhood, we have to consider that impact," Pillas said at the council's July 7 meeting.

She said the brewery should have waited a year before coming back with their request.

"I want him to be successful. I plan to go up there anyway and have dinner, taste of some of his OC brew. But I'm not going to go for the silo, and I'm not going to go for the canning. He should have asked for it in the beginning. It's too complicated for us to go through," Pillas said.

Councilwoman Mary Knight didn't want to see the grain silo outside, either. She told her fellow council members that, according to her own Internet research, barley storage can lead to issues with mold and nitrogen dioxide emissions. She also said high outside temperatures and a lack of aeration in a silo could prove a haven for bugs.

Shores in a interview harshly rebutted those claims, saying Knight railed against grain storage in general without referring to the actual silo that would be erected at the brewery, one Shores said does not have problematic ventilation openings.

"If she'd done the research on the silo instead of the grain, which was the issues at hand, she'd have known that silo was perfectly safe," he said.

For now, Shores said they're going to try installing the grain silo indoors. He's also looking at locations in West Ocean City to do some of their canning. His beer distribution started last week in several Eastern Shore counties, and he plans to begin distribution into Washington and Baltimore later this year.

The brewery held its grand opening July 1. Outside of a few predictable growing pains, Shores said business is going strong so far. The restaurant, bar, and gift shop will stay open year-round.

"We're learning as we go," he said. "The beer is phenomenal. We've had nothing but a great response. We've been very successful with our concept. We're going to make OC Brewing the biggest thing to hit Ocean City, the biggest breweries on the East Coast."

Councilman Dennis Dare was one of two votes in support of the brewery's request. He noted how, in a time when some local eateries are mulling moves away from the resort, Shores is making a big investment in his business, and in the town itself.

Dare also noted how property owners could have gone a different route – Shores is a lease holder, not the landowner – to build condominiums at the 56th Street lot instead of a restaurant, meaning neighbors could have ended up with dozens of noisy air compressors churning right at the property line instead.

"We've made a lot of issues with the (potential) noise," he said. "You have to be careful of what you wish for, because there's some alternatives that would be a lot worse than this for the neighborhood."